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Short-Order Kitchen

Thai-Style Chicken Cabbage Salad

By Wes Ellis2 min read
A chopped cabbage salad with carrots, almonds and mandarin oranges beside a cup of peanut dressing.
Recipe card
Servings
2 to 3
Prep
20 minutes
Cook
None (no-cook)
Method
No-Bake
Difficulty
Easy
Jump to ingredients & directions ↓

Part 11 of the thread Bowls, salads and wraps

THE SHORT VERSION4 points
  • A crunchy cabbage base that holds up to dressing better than lettuce.
  • Mango adds the sweet part; the peanut dressing does the rest.
  • Thin the dressing a spoonful of water at a time until it pours.
  • Serves 2 to 3, and keeps a day or two dressed.
THE RECIPE · THAI-STYLE CHICKEN CABBAGE SALAD

Ingredients

Salad

Peanut dressing

You'll need

  • Large salad bowl
  • Small bowl and whisk
  • Knife and cutting board
  • Grater or peeler

Directions

  1. Shred the cabbage (or open a bag), shred the carrots, dice the mango and chop the pepper and green onions. Shred or dice the chicken and chop the peanuts.
  2. Put the cabbage, carrots, mango, pepper, green onions and chicken in a large bowl.
  3. Whisk the peanut butter, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, sesame oil, water, lime juice, salt and pepper until smooth. If it's too thick to pour, whisk in more water a little at a time.
  4. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until everything's coated.
  5. Scatter the peanuts on top right before serving.
Notes Dressed leftovers keep 1 to 2 days in the fridge; the cabbage softens a little but holds up. For longer, store the dressing separately and toss when you eat.

wesellis.com/blog/thai-chicken-cabbage-salad/

Lettuce salads wilt the second dressing touches them. Cabbage doesn't. That's why this one works as a make-ahead lunch: a pile of shredded cabbage, carrot and red pepper with sweet mango and a lot of chicken, all coated in a salty-sweet peanut dressing that tastes like takeout.

Getting the dressing right

Peanut butter dressings go wrong in one of two ways: too thick to toss, or too thin to cling. Whisk everything else in first, then add water a spoonful at a time until it pours off the whisk in a ribbon. Natural peanut butter is looser than the no-stir kind, so you may need less.

Tip

If the peanut butter's been in the fridge, microwave it for ten seconds first. Cold peanut butter won't whisk smooth.

Crunch is the point

Shred the carrots and cut the peppers thin so every forkful has a mix. A bag of coleslaw mix saves ten minutes of shredding and works fine. Hold the chopped peanuts until the very end so they stay crunchy.

The same cooked-chicken-plus-big-flavor approach shows up in the Mexican Chicken Salad. If you're after a hot dinner with a similar salty-sweet thing going on, the Shrimp Stir Fry is close.

Note

Coconut aminos are a little sweeter and less salty than soy sauce. If you swap in soy, start with less and taste.

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